Punjab & Sind Bank likely to get IAS head

Unable to find a senior Sikh banker to replace G S Vedi at Punjab & Sind Bank, the finance ministry has begun the search for an IAS officer to be appointed as the Delhi-headquartered bank’s chairman & managing director.

Vedi is due to retire at June-end and, unlike other public sector banks where the top job is falling vacant this year, no candidate has been shortlisted for the bank’s top job.

Traditionally, the bank has had a Sikh as chairman and managing director and, in the absence of a banker, the job has gone to an administrative service officer. R P Singh, who is at present secretary in the department of industrial policy and promotion, was Vedi’s predecessor. Singh was, however, appointed as the government wanted an outsider to run the bank that had run up a pile of bad debt and was unable to modernise.

In the absence of a Sikh executive director with at least two years of service left, the government was toying with the idea of appointing a non-Sikh banker. But, the move was opposed by the community, prompting the government to settle for a candidate from the bureaucratic community.

Punjab & Sind Bank, the only unlisted public sector bank in the country, has received the Reserve Bank of India’s approval for an initial public offer. The bank’s management has indicated it intended to hit the capital market in June-July for raising around Rs 500 crore. Post-IPO, the government holding will come down to 82 per cent.